Princess Luna has two designs, differing in that her coat is a darker shade of blue and that her mane is partially translucent, rippling and sparkling like Celestia's. Depiction of her as a filly—on the fan-designed WeLoveFineT-shirts "Old School Cutie Mark" (without her cutie mark) and "Flying in Circles" (with her cutie mark)—uses the lighter-coated-and-normal-maned design; depiction of her as a mare has switched between the two designs on multiple occasions:

Her old design is still used in some merchandise and the online gameCastle Creator, and her old mane is partly visible in some shots. Lauren Faust has stated that when Luna is fully grown, she will not look like Nightmare Moon.[3] She also speculated that when Nightmare Moon was defeated, Luna was reborn with very low magic levels, and that her mane was eventually magical and wavy again because her good powers had been restored.[6]

Depiction in the series

History

Nightmare Moon

The younger Alicorn princess, later named Princess Luna, in the first episode's prologue.

Princess Luna is introduced in the prologue of the first episode, depicted in a series of medieval-like drawings with a narration that says, "Two regal sisters who ruled together and created harmony for all the land," and that "the eldest used her unicorn powers to raise the sun at dawn; the younger brought out the moon to begin the night."

The narration continues by stating: their subjects, the ponies, played in the day but "shunned" the night and slept through it, which made the younger Alicorn grow bitter, eventually refusing to lower the moon to make way for the dawn. Her bitterness "transformed her into a wicked mare of darkness: Nightmare Moon." The elder sister reluctantly harnessed the power of the Elements of Harmony and "banished her permanently in the moon," taking responsibility for both sun and moon, maintaining harmony in Equestria.

Nightmare Moon in Friendship is Magic, part 2.

Following the prologue, Twilight Sparkle reads of a prophecy about the Mare in the Moon that states that "on the longest day of the thousandth year, the stars will aid in her escape, and she will bring about nighttime eternal." Indeed, this prophecy comes to pass, and Nightmare Moon appears before the ponies of Ponyville during the Summer Sun Celebration. At the end of the second episode, Twilight and her new friends confront Nightmare Moon and transform her back into Princess Luna with the Elements of Harmony, and she remorsefully accepts Princess Celestia's offer to rule by her side again.

The show's developer, Lauren Faust, explained in a comment on her DeviantArt page that Luna could not have been "drawn" from Nightmare Moon for a thousand years, and that Princess Celestia "did what she could" to orchestrate breaking the spell that turned Luna into Nightmare Moon. Faust added that this explanation is "as far as [she] ever got with it," and that the explanation might unfold differently on the show.[9]

A Canterlot Wedding

Arriving for the celebrations in A Canterlot Wedding Part 2.

Luna makes cameo appearances in A Canterlot Wedding - Part 1 and Part 2. In Part 1, Luna takes over the night shift from her sister after flying in silhouetted by the moon, and later tells Twilight to remain inside after spotting her running towards the castle. She appears again in the end of Part 2, when she flies in greeting everyone and asking if she missed anything. Luna dances with the other ponies after Pinkie Pie and DJ Pon-3 start the wedding party music which concludes the episode.

The Crystal Empire

Celestia telling Luna about Twilight.

Luna makes brief appearances in The Crystal Empire - Part 1 and Part 2. In the first part, she expresses doubt to Celestia over whether Twilight is ready for her task. Celestia shows Twilight a flashback where the two sisters worked together to defeat King Sombra, turning him into a shadow with their magic and imprisoning him in the frozen north. Luna reappears at the end of Part 2. She and Celestia watch as Twilight and her friends return home. Luna then conjures up a spiral-bound book, as Celestia nods, confirming that her student is "much closer to being ready."

Magical Mystery Cure

Luna and Celestia during the crowning of Princess Twilight.

In the season three finale Magical Mystery Cure, Luna appears near the end of the episode alongside her sister and Princess Cadance, attending the coronation of Twilight Sparkle as a Princess. She can be seen wearing a dress and more ornate, elaborate versions of her crown, shoes, and collar. It is also revealed that the book Luna had produced at the end of part 2 of The Crystal Empire was the journal of Star Swirl the Bearded, which contained an unfinished spell that Celestia believed Twilight to be capable of completing.

Princess Twilight Sparkle

Luna lowers the moon for the Summer Sun Celebration.

Luna makes appearances in Princess Twilight Sparkle - Part 1 and Part 2. In Part 1, while Princess Celestia speaks to Twilight about the Summer Sun Celebration, Luna is seen on a nearby castle balcony, happily raising the moon. During the episode, she is captured off-screen by black vines growing out of the Everfree Forest. When Twilight drinks a potion given to her by Zecora, she is transported into a castle, where she encounters Luna. Luna proclaims that she will be the only princess in Equestria, and she undergoes a transformation into Nightmare Moon, much to Twilight's horror.

In Part 2, Celestia arrives to the scene, and an aerial fight ensues. Twilight soon realizes that the potion has taken her to the past, and that she is witnessing the banishment of Nightmare Moon. Moments later, Celestia uses the Elements of Harmony to banish Luna to the moon. Twilight drinks the potion again and witnesses Luna and Celestia battling Discord and turning him to stone for the first time. She also sees the two sisters taking the Elements from the Tree of Harmony. Later, Twilight and her friends free her and Celestia in Part 2 by giving up the Elements of Harmony to the Tree of Harmony. At the end of Part 2, Luna takes part in the Summer Sun Celebration, lowering the moon so Celestia could raise the sun.

Twilight's Kingdom

Luna singing in Twilight's Kingdom - Part 1.

In Twilight's Kingdom - Part 1, Luna assists Celestia, Cadance and Twilight in welcoming the Duke and Duchess of Maretonia. Shortly after, Luna joins Celestia and Cadance in a song, admitting to Twilight that she understands how she is feeling. Later in the evening, Luna rushes into Celestia's room when she hears her scream from having a nightmare. She informs Celestia that she did not have a dream, but rather a vision. The next morning, she and Celestia tell Twilight the story of Lord Tirek and his brother Scorpan, and how Tirek was imprisoned in Tartarus. Luna mentions that they believe Tirek escaped during the events of It's About Time when Cerberus left his post and attacked Ponyville.

In Twilight's Kingdom - Part 2, she and the other princesses transfer their magic to Twilight; Luna's cutie mark—unlike those of Celestia, Cadance, and the ponies whose magic Tirek steals—does not completely disappear,[note 1] losing only the moon marking and keeping the darker part underneath. Tirek and Discord eventually break into Canterlot Castle and Tirek attempts to steal the three princesses' magic, but soon learns that they have transferred it all to Twilight. Luna, along with Cadance and Celestia, is sent to Tartarus as revenge for Tirek's original imprisonment. After Tirek is defeated, the three princesses are released and return home to Equestria.

The Cutie Re-Mark - Part 2

Nightmare Moon in the season five finale.

In The Cutie Re-Mark - Part 2, due to Starlight Glimmer's alteration of the past, she inadvertently creates a future where Nightmare Moon deposes Princess Celestia, banishes her to the moon, and brings about eternal night. Catching word of Twilight Sparkle's method of time travel used to stop Starlight, Nightmare Moon expresses interest in using this magic to prevent the Elements of Harmony from being found, ensuring her eternal rule. However, Twilight gets away and rewrites the timeline before Nightmare Moon can act upon it.

A Hearth's Warming Tail

To Where and Back Again

Princess Luna giving advice to Starlight Glimmer.

In To Where and Back Again - Part 1, Princess Luna helps comfort Starlight Glimmer when she has a nightmare about her fellow villagers of Our Town. Later, Queen Chrysalis' changelings capture Luna, and she warns Starlight about them. At the end of Part 2, Luna is rescued along with the other captives, and she joins in celebrating the Sunset Festival in Our Town.

Personality

As Nightmare Moon

Much like the archetypal, over-the-top villains, Nightmare Moon is overly confident of herself and dramatically declares that the protagonist is a fool (foal) for thinking she can defeat her, and that "the night will last forever." She is portrayed as vicious and maniacal, shown when she attacks Princess Celestia and cackles evilly in Princess Twilight Sparkle - Part 2.

Bitterness

Her bitterness grows inside her and turns her into Nightmare Moon.

The narration at the beginning of Friendship is Magic, part 1 speaks of Luna's bitterness which transformed her. When she first appears, she intimidates the ponies with her evil laugh and pointed questions. She snidely refers to the ponies as her "beloved subjects," but appears genuinely impressed when Twilight Sparkle recognizes her as Nightmare Moon.

Manipulation

Nightmare Moon making the cliff tumble down.

Nightmare Moon uses her magic to set obstacles in Twilight and her friends' path to the Elements of Harmony indirectly, making creatures unwittingly assist her. These include the manticore, whose paw she embeds with a thorn so he'd attack the ponies, or Steven Magnet, whose mustache she cuts off so he'd make the river impassible. She further indirectly attacks the ponies by causing a cliff side to collapse underneath the ponies' hooves and by making trees appear as monsters. As the Shadowbolts, she tries to persuade Rainbow Dash to abandon her friends so they won't be able to cross a fallen bridge and reach the Elements of Harmony.

Despite her indirect approach, when she is attacked by the royal guards, she quickly repels them with lightning, then turns into mist and floats away. She also confronts Twilight Sparkle directly when the two charge at each other, right before shattering the Elements of Harmony.

As Princess Luna

Remorse

Luna accepting Celestia's friendship.

Once transformed back to her former self, Princess Luna is remorseful and tearful upon seeing her older sister. She runs to Celestia's side, apologizing for what she had done. The two sisters later join the celebration in Ponyville, where Luna receives a welcome wreath in wonderment, and gazes up with an anxious smile at her older sister. However, as stated in Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep?, Luna's sense of guilt causes her to create the Tantabus in order to give herself nightmares every night as punishment for the suffering she caused as Nightmare Moon.

Excessive decorum

Princess Luna's return.

Princess Luna returned to the show exactly one year after the broadcast date of Friendship is Magic, part 2, in the episode Luna Eclipsed. The episode takes place in Ponyville during Nightmare Night. Despite wanting to win over the citizens of Ponyville, the townspeople are frightened of her booming voice and assertive manner. Twilight Sparkle tells Spike that Luna must be having trouble adjusting after being gone for a thousand years.

When Luna tries to express her happiness with being purged of her dark powers, Twilight tells her that she sounds like she's yelling, and Luna explains that she's using the "traditional Canterlot voice," the royal we, and high volume in order to properly address her subjects. She uses archaic terms like "hath," "thy," "nay," and "thou," as well as other constructs.

Luna having fun with the villagers.

Twilight encourages Luna to lower the volume of her voice, but Luna is hesitant. Twilight Sparkle recruits Fluttershy's help in teaching Luna to speak in a softer voice, and later takes her to Ponyville so Applejack can show her how to be likable. For a short while, Luna manages to mingle with the villagers of Ponyville and have fun with them, by playing games where she throws toy spiders or pumpkins onto a target. In Sleepless in Ponyville she seems to show less of her former decorum, dispensing with the royal we, and speaking in a far less harsh manner.

Temper

Princess Luna reverts to her intimidating self after Pinkie Pie accuses her of eating Pipsqueak, while she was actually saving him from drowning in the apple bob. She attempts to endear herself to the villagers by turning toy spiders into real spiders, trying to elicit "fun" by making them crawl on their own to the bulls-eye, but the spiders only frighten everyone. The villagers panic and flee, and after a few seconds of indecision, Luna stops the commotion by shouting "Be still!" in her royal Canterlot voice, to the accompaniment of a crack of thunder. She then decrees in anger that since the ponies dishonor and insult her with the celebration, Nightmare Night is canceled forever.

Playfulness

Luna scaring ponies for fun.

Thanks to Pinkie Pie's insight, Twilight Sparkle realizes that because of the holiday, Pinkie Pie and her entourage actually want to be frightened, so she arranges for Luna to purposefully scare them. Luna appears as Nightmare Moon, scares the ponies, and bares fangs. After the ponies run away in fright, she changes back to her usual appearance and spits out the false fangs she was wearing, confused as to why Twilight wanted her to do that. Then Pipsqueak approaches Luna on behalf of the children and asks her to come back and scare them again next year, even though she canceled Nightmare Night. Luna begins to understand and reinstates Nightmare Night, at which point Pipsqueak declares her his "favorite princess ever" and hugs her leg.

The princess manages to relinquish the use of her royal Canterlot voice, and in the epilogue she plays a variety of games with the villagers, accepts the foals' candy, and frightens Rainbow Dash by firing a bolt of lightning behind her, a trick that Rainbow Dash had been playing on other ponies over the course of the night.

Kindness and wisdom

Princess Luna giving advice to Scootaloo.

In the episode Sleepless in Ponyville, she displays kindness and offers wise advice to Scootaloo when she tells her to face her fears. At the end of the episode she gives Scootaloo a wink and a smile, as she knows that Scootaloo has faced her fears and she also knows that she has Rainbow Dash to help her overcome them.

In For Whom the Sweetie Belle Toils, Luna once again appears in a nightmare; this time, in Sweetie Belle's nightmare. She gives advice to Sweetie Belle and tells her that she as well has a sister that often "shines more brightly" than her and that she struggles with it. She then takes Sweetie Belle into the past at her fifth birthday party and shows her that Rarity did not want to take over the party, just simply save it. Later, Luna tells Sweetie to go inside a door of what the future might hold if she does not fix her sabotage of the headpiece Rarity had designed for Sapphire Shores. Later in the episode, Luna appears again in Canterlot in order to help Sweetie Belle undo the damage she did to the headpiece.

Raising the moon

Raising the moon.

As mentioned above, Luna's chief duty is raising the moon at night when Celestia lowers the sun. Following her banishment to the moon, Luna resumes this responsibility, as shown in Princess Twilight Sparkle - Part 1.

In the episode Hearth's Warming Eve, Spike narrates that this magic is not exclusive to Luna and Celestia and that it could be performed by the unicorns of old collectively. In Twilight's Kingdom - Part 2, Luna temporarily transfers her ability to control the moon, along with all of her magic, to Twilight Sparkle.

Transformation

On multiple occasions, Nightmare Moon turns her entire form into mist. She appears in this manner in Ponyville's pavilion where the Summer Sun Celebration is being held, and she follows the Mane Six on their journey for the Elements this way. While in this form, Nightmare Moon manipulates creatures and environments; she transforms into a thorn to hurt a manticore, prompting it to attack the Mane Six, and she transforms into the Shadowbolts at one point.

In Luna Eclipsed, Luna transforms into her Nightmare Moon form with a set of false fangs to playfully frighten some foals on Nightmare Night. In the same episode, she transforms toy spiders into living spiders.

Weather manipulation

"Nightmare Night is canceled....FOREVER!!!!!"

Nightmare Moon uses lightning to repel the royal guards in Friendship is Magic, part 2 and thickens the mist over the fallen bridge later in the episode to prevent Rainbow Dash from hearing Twilight Sparkle calling out to her.

In Luna Eclipsed, Princess Luna makes clouds swirl above her in the sky when she decrees that Nightmare Night is canceled, and she produces lightning from a cloud to playfully frighten Rainbow Dash.

Dream duty

In Sleepless in Ponyville, Luna appears in Scootaloo's dreams, stating that as the princess of the night, it is "[her] duty to come into [ponies'] dreams," and offers Scootaloo guidance in facing her fears.

In Bloom & Gloom, Luna visits Apple Bloom's nightmare to comfort her cutie mark anxieties, and also brings Sweetie and Scootaloo into the dream.

In Do Princesses Dream of Magic Sheep?, Princess Luna hunts down the Tantabus, a nightmare creature she created that haunts the Mane Six's dreams. She jumps from dream to dream and also creates a dream that everyone in Ponyville shares.

Royal guards

Princess Luna's royal guards look quite different from Princess Celestia's guards. They wear black and purple armor reminiscent of Nightmare Moon's armor. And most significantly, they have purple dragon or bat-like wings instead of the standard feathered Pegasus wings. They are grey-brown and have yellow eyes with pupils in the form of slits. Their ears appear to be furrier than normal. The carriage they pull is aggressive and Gothic, with streamlined shapes evoking bat or dragon-wings as well as arrow-like or spear-like accents. It is built with a low center of gravity, and Luna's royal guards pull it via heavy chains.

Depiction in Equestria Girls

In My Little Pony Equestria Girls, Luna appears at a princess summit in the Crystal Empire. When Sunset Shimmer steals Twilight's crown, Luna explains the purpose of the magic mirror she escaped through. She tells Twilight that she only has three days before she'll be stuck in the alternate world for thirty moons, and that she must get back before the third moon reaches its peak. In this alternate world, Luna's human counterpart is a high school vice principal.

Depiction in comics

One of the variant covers featuring Luna

Princess Luna appeared in one of the standard variant covers of the first issue, despite the fact that she makes no appearance in the story proper.

In the series' second four-part story arc, Nightmare Moon is shown to be a completely separate entity from Princess Luna. It is revealed that Nightmare Moon is a creature of darkness born on the moon whose very presence corrupts the denizens of the moon. Through her power over nightmares, Nightmare Moon was able to feed off Luna's insecurities of living in her sister's shadow, thus allowing her to take over Luna's mind, which ultimately lead to her being banished to the moon for a thousand years. Although the Elements of Harmony were able to restore Luna back to her original form, Nightmare Moon herself continued to live on. Eventually, she hatched a plot to take on physical form by using one of the Element bearers, thus making the other five Elements of Harmony useless.

Just as she did with Luna, she begins invading the Element bearers' dreams until she is able to find a suitable candidate in Rarity, whom she abducts and takes to the moon. Princess Luna joins the other five Element bearers and Spike on a mission to retrieve Rarity before Nightmare Moon takes her over completely. However, Nightmare Moon's return seems to have weakened Luna as she is once again reverted to her "depowered" form (as seen at the end of Friendship is Magic, part 2). Upon arriving to the moon, they find that they are too late. Nightmare Moon has already taken over Rarity, and Luna is powerless to stop her in her weakened state. She is forced to retreat back to Equestria, leaving Spike and the remaining Element bearers behind. Back in Equestria, Luna helps Celestia and the residents of Ponyville defend themselves against the invasion Nightmare Moon and her minions.

Initially, Luna's magic proves to be just as ineffective as before, but through the love and support shown from her subjects she is able to regain her proper form and, with the help of the power of the other Element bearers' friendship, is able to best Nightmare Moon, save Rarity, and restore the denizens of the moon back to their original forms.

In My Little Pony Micro-Series Issue #10 Luna thinks Celestia's job is much easier and takes over Celestia's work for a day. Luna realizes that her sister does do a lot of work and decides to go back to working solely during the night. Part of her nightly duties appears to be hunting and defeating monstrous beasts. In the issue, Luna also gets a pet opossum, which she names Tiberius. My Little Pony: FIENDship is Magic Issue #4 "explores the secret origins of" Nightmare Moon, where she takes over the Nyx in order to plague the dreams of Equestria's ponies.

In Siege of the Crystal Empire, Luna and Celestia travel to the Crystal Empire and engage the revived King Sombra and Queen Chrysalis in battle. Unfortunately, Sombra's childhood friend Radiant Hope intervenes, allowing Sombra to turn Luna and Celestia to stone. By the end of the story, they are returned to normal, and they use their magic to turn Sombra into a normal unicorn. In Ponies of Dark Water, Luna helps Spike, Zecora, and the Cutie Mark Crusaders save Ponyville after the Mane Six are exposed to a hot spring's dark magic. However, she becomes Nightmare Moon once again after she, too, is exposed to the spring water. She is eventually turned back to normal when Rainbow Dash rains the cure for the spring water over Ponyville.

A promotional image depicting Princess Luna and Apple Bloom—both depicted using fanart[11][12]—with cutie marks all around them was posted by the official European Spanish My Little Pony Facebook page on March 20, 2015, captioned, "Hoy se celebra el #DíaDelSueño y el #DíaDeLaFelicidad. Se lo podríamos dedicar a la Princesa Luna por darnos a todos sueños felices, ¿verdad?"[13] A promotional image posted by the same Facebook page on the 28th of the same month of the same year uses different fanart of Princess Luna.[14][15]

HubNetwork.com description

Princess Luna raises the moon at night and rules Equestria with her big sister, Princess Celestia, who's also an Alicorn. Luna was banished as Night Mare Moon for a thousand years, but with help from Twilight Sparkle and friends, she's back. Her formal speech may still frighten ponies, but she's beloved by everypony and celebrated on Night Mare Night[sic]. On occasion, she appears in ponies' dreams.

My Little Pony mobile game description

The Elements of Harmony guidebook

Princess Celestia's younger sister, PRINCESS LUNA, has a history of difficulty living in her older sister's shadow. So difficult, in fact, her jealousy turned her into the villain Nightmare Moon! Fortunately, Luna was reformed and her heart softened by the ancient and powerful Elements of Harmony. Luna and Celestia have forgiven each other and are loving sisters once again, but Luna has trouble adjusting to modern Equestrian life after her thousand-year-long banishment in the moon. Still speaking with ancient formality and finding it hard to move beyond her once fearsome image, she may struggle, but her intentions are pure and she is certain to find the happiness she seeks one day soon.

As Nightmare Moon

NIGHTMARE MOON is the malevolent alter ego of Princess Luna. In the dark form of Nightmare Moon, Luna is consumed with spite and enjoys manipulating unwilling ponies to do her bidding. Imprisoned in the moon, Nightmare Moon became even more dangerous when she escaped.

The Journal of the Two Sisters

In The Journal of the Two Sisters, Luna at first writes her journal entry in the royal Canterlot voice, but then decides against it. She reveals that she and Celestia used to speak that way when they were younger and pretended they were princesses. It is also revealed that even when they got their crowns, the sisters were still blank flanks, due to Alicorns aging differently from other ponies. When Luna speaks to a Manticore named Melvin, it is revealed that she is able to understand the language of certain animals, like Fluttershy does.

Luna befriends cragadiles, bats, and owls, who help with the construction of the Castle of the Two Sisters, and the zebras, whose rhyming way of talking plays into her and Celestia negotiating a new peace treaty with Gregor and the griffons. Luna also becomes very good friends with Princess Platinum after she apologizes and even promises to teach her how to do the royal Canterlot voice.

Luna bears witness to one of the few times Celestia is pushed to the point of using her own royal Canterlot voice to subdue a creature that has severely disrespected and angered her when retrieving the Crystal Heart for unicorn Princess Amore, then-ruler of the Crystal Empire. When a dragon claims the Crystal Heart as his property since it was mined from his keep, Celestia lashes out in righteous fury at him, scaring him into returning the Heart and flee to his keep, never to be heard from again.

When Star Swirl the Bearded reveals his unicorn magic has been exhausted attempting to lower the moon alone without the assistance of several other full-grown unicorns, he asks Luna and Celestia to do it as their Alicorn magic is more powerful, and doing so could actually revitalize them. The princesses lower the moon and raise the sun flawlessly, and they earn their cutie marks at long last. They are also able to restore Star Swirl's magic and that of the other unicorns.

"Citizens of Ponyville! We have graced your tiny village with our presence so that you might behold the real princess of the night! A creature of nightmares no longer, but instead a pony who desires your love and admiration! Together we shall change this dreadful celebration into a bright and glorious feast!"